


Conversations

by Oblivion_Wanderer



Category: Pandora Hearts
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-10 20:11:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5599291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oblivion_Wanderer/pseuds/Oblivion_Wanderer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alice meets an old friend in the Abyss following her reunion with her twin sister.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Conversations

**Author's Note:**

> An old fic I've just gotten around to finishing. May not be entirely accurate, but meh (I'm gonna go a reread on the series when the last book comes out this spring.

So, it had been _that_ memory all along that made her cry for no reason.

Alice had realized this when her twin sister, with a simple touch of their joined hands, restored the memories that she had lost. The same memories she had been searching for with determination, seeking to recover them. There in the faded fragments the brunette learned of the truth, and the weight of it all was almost crushing with how clear it was.

In a time long past, 100 years past, it had been Lacie Baskerville who was her mother, who had brought Alice and her sister into the world. Born in the Abyss- Alice was sent to the human realm while the other stayed and became what she is today. That lone fact made the sisters Baskervilles as well from birthright. Oswald had taken care of her and became a father-figure to Alice, even if he was Glen. That was also how her most precious friend got his name.

Oz. Precious Oz, the one who was Alice's closest confident and best friend.

And then in the end, Jack had betrayed everyone and took control of Oz. He betrayed the twins as well. He hurt both of them, especially Alice, who was angry and upset of what Jack had done. In the end, for Oz and Alyss, she gathered up every once of defiance against Jack, Alice stabbed herself with scissors and sacrificed her life.

Those were her memories, now recovered and full of truth. As if things weren't bad enough already. First Oz rejecting her and now a revelation such as this!

Oz...

He had been shot, upon a command solely given to Gilbert- Raven. But that wasn't the last thing she remembered about that moment. The last thing she remembered was Oz saying those words to her, the short string of words that had hurt her so, piercing her down to her core. He had said... she could no longer be with him anymore.

Now here she was, in the familiar Abyss, where she had spent an unknown amount of time before Oz came back into her life. After the reunion with her sister, she was aiming to make her way back to Oz, and yet these thoughts lingered, stirring unease in her heart because of Oz's words.

Alice didn't understand. Was it because she wasn't, in reality, B-Rabbit to begin with? Had she done something wrong to deserve this banishment? Or, was it because she yearned for that closeness again, for the blond, through a subconscious desire linking to the past? Ether way there was still one understandable truth.

Oz rejected her.

“Dammit!” Alice exclaimed loudly, trying to hold in her sorrow and stopping in her tracks. “Why did he...? But- Oz...”

Alice didn't understand why she felt so empty.

“Are you talking about the shorty?”

That voice. It was one the brunette hadn't heard since the incident that went down at that weird man's house, the one obsessed with Jack. Oz knew the person with that voice well, and his... companion (was that the right word?) Shaggy Glasses. Yes, that odd boy who had since changed was even closer to _that person_ because he was _that person's_ servant.

Looking up, Alice saw him materialize before her, emerging from the darkness of the Abyss, a white light glowing about him. Elliot Nightray appeared in front of her, dressed in the fancy Lutiwidge uniform he had been wearing when they first met.

“You.” Alice started. “That guy with the scent of a Chain.”

He nodded. “Yeah, don't remind me. And don't you dare try that trick you pulled last time.”

“Couldn't help noticing.” But she shook her head. “Aren't you just a hallucination?”

“I'm right here, er... Alice, isn't it?”

Her eyebrows shot up. Elliot really never knew her name- Oz probably passed it along to him before his death.

“How can it be you're here? You're, you know, dead! And this is the Abyss.”

“Tch. You think I don't know that? Death works in odd ways, and so does the Abyss.”

“Then you're a ghost.”

“Hey, knock it off.” The Nightray growled. “And stop avoiding the question.”

“Avoiding?” Alice scoffed. “What are you talking about?”

“You know what!” He insisted. “You're upset and I'm certain it has something to do with Oz!”

She opened her mouth to protest against this fool boy's words, but no sound would come out. The words became trapped inside her and refused to come forth.

Oz was supposed to be hers. Her one trusted companion that was always with her. From the very beginning, the moment she came into this world through the gate, Oz belonged to her. She loved Oz as her friend, her very dear stuffed rabbit who as always there for her. But Jack... Jack just had to go and ruin it all. He took Oz for himself and made him do terrible things.

And now, 100 years later, Jack manipulated Oz again and Oz pushed her away. He wasn't supposed to do that. They had made a contact when they were reunited in the Abyss, and she was to be by his side as his Chain, though the reality was reversed and hidden. He wasn't supposed to reject her, and that hurt.

“Oz...” Whispering his name again, Alice fell to her knees.

Elliot looked down at her, seeing tears form at her eyes. For a moment, those eyes reminded him of ones he had seen long ago; beautiful and hidden behind a tangle of messy hair. Those eyes brought Leo to his mind, the friend he left behind. So similar.... but now was not the time for such thoughts.

He gritted his teeth. “Hey, don't you go crying on me now.”

Alice shook her head. “You wouldn't understand.” She muttered.

“That's why I want to know. That's what I was asking.”

“I-Idiot.” She didn't know if he meant for her or for the world outside. “You don't want to. Nothing would be as you remembered, so there's no point.”

“No point? I'm trying to figure out what's going on with you.” His voice got surprisingly soft. “I've never seen you cry.”

“Who says I'm crying?” She scoffed. “And things have changed. Nothing is as you remember.”

“I don't care about that!” He shouted. “I'm trying to help, so quit the whining and tell me what's wrong. I want to help.”

Really, this guy was so short tempered. That was a trait Alice didn't forget.

“Oz is being an idiot.”

Elliot rolled his eyes. “What else is new?”

Alice looked up at him, unsure of that cool gaze. “We were attacked, and Jack... he did something to Oz. But I see, that he was the true enemy, not Shaggy Glasses.”

Elliot didn't understand that nickname, but knew it didn't apply to himself. He realized only one person could be called that.

“Do... Do you mean Leo?!” He exclaimed, memories of that noir surfacing. “How is he? Is he well?”

Alice shook her head. Elliot wouldn't have known what happened to that kid. It was only after his death he spiraled, so she heard. “That kid's lost it.

The Nightray had no words to reply. Was she saying that Leo had become broken and given in to the despair Elliot had known was always silently eating at him? Was his best friend and servant no longer the Leo he once knew?

“Oz tried to talk some sense into him, and he almost did.” Alice continued. “But, I think I saw him impale that boy with a chain.”

“He what?!” Elliot yelled, not believing it.

“No, wiat. It wasn't Oz. At that time, Jack had taken over.”

“Jack Vessalius? Is that what this is about?”

“Tch.” She glared at him as she stood, turning on her heel. “You wouldn't understand.”

Now, Elliot refused to let her walk away when she was troubled. He walked up to her and grabbed both her shoulders, spinning her around.

“I'm sick of you trying to avoid the question.”

“Trying to- Look who's talking! My manservant is no concern of yours! I don't even know what I'm talking to a ghost like you!”

“Spit it out already! What's going on between you and Oz?”

“Oz was supposed to be by my side!”

She froze in the Nightray's grip. Alice hadn't meant to blurt it out like that, it had slipped from her mouth. It had perhaps been a built up frustration that masked her true feelings that dwelled inside. The reason they had always stirred was because of Oz, her one true friend in the darkness.

“He told me I couldn't be with him anymore, that it was better that way. Why did he do that?!”

There was no answer for a moment, then.... “I think I can relate.” Elliot said, surprisingly soft.

Scowling, Alice tried to meet his gaze. “What do you mean?”

He let go of Alice. “Me and Leo- we're supposed to be equals, friends, allies. I haven't done a great job at that lately... as you know. Isn't it the same for you and Oz?”

“He's being a horrible manservant if that's what you mean.”

Elliot shook his head. “No, stupid. Maybe the shorty is going the wrong way about this, rejecting you, but don't you think it might be because of something else?” Alice didn't respond, so he continued. “I found out I was Humpty Dumpty, and Leo... I knocked him away, though I didn't mean to knock him unconscious. I didn't want him to get hurt. Ironically, that's what had brought the Chain out each time, because Leo was in danger and I wanted to protect him.” He gave a chuckle. “What do you think the chances are that we still could have looked at each other the same way If I had lived?”

That stuck in Alice. It sounded... almost like what Oz had said. Was he trying to say that Oz had sent her away to... protect her?

“Well that Shaggy Glasses has lost himself in grief and went crazy.”

“You think I want to know that? It wasn't his fault... And it wasn't yours ether that you ended up here.”

“Of course! I-I did nothing wrong! And I'm trying to get back to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid!” But in hindsight she wondered if she did do something wrong, something to anger Oz.

“He would. But... maybe he did you good by casting you here, to protect you like I wanted to protect Leo-”

“I am the one who's supposed to protect him, because he is mine!”

Elliot crossed his arms and leaned back, watching the brunette with eyebrows raised.

“I... I named him. He was the only one there for me, my friend. Jack took advantage of him once and I gave my life to save him.” Her hands clenched into fists. “I'd do it again if I had to.”

He was quiet for a moment, but sighed and nodded. “This time he was protecting you, like Leo protected me. In a way you and me aren't that much different. You're the kinda girl I'd like, and we both have someone we want to protect.”

She looked down at her feet. “I guess.”

“Then go. Aren't you on your way to him?”

Alice looked back up, steeling herself. Somehow Elliot's words were sticking to her mind. Maybe Oz had protected her, and while it confused her, she had to return the favor.

“I... I was until you distracted me.”

He had a smile on his face as he laughed. “Go on.”

With a quick and confident nod, Alice turned on her heel and resumed her path. She had to get back to Oz.

“Alice!”

She heard Elliot's voice call and she stopped.

“Make sure Leo and Oz don't kill each other.”

Having her memories back, Alice could not help but notice Glen- Oswald- in the young lad. Oswald raised her, and his resemblance was clear in Leo, especially since he had fully come into Glen now. Whenever she saw him however, she still saw the weird shaggy haired boy with the glasses.

“Yeah, I got it-” She looked behind her shoulder to see Elliot one last time, but he was gone, faded back into the dark.

There was nothing else left to distract her now.

So Alice continued to run, more certain of her goal, and still as determined to protect Oz. She sort of got the point now, but still the desire was in her heart.

_'I'm coming back, Oz!'_

And she reached for the light.

 


End file.
